Baseball bat with a ball-serving device

ABSTRACT

A baseball bat includes a tubular bat body with a resilient member, a ball-pushing unit which is disposed within the bat body, a gripping rod that retains the ball-pushing unit within the bat body, and an adjustment member that is coupled with the gripping rod. The resilient member is formed with a retaining projection that engages a hole in the ball-pushing unit. The resilient member can be actuated to separate the projection from the hole so that the ball-pushing unit is biased by a spring to move quickly in the bat body, thereby shooting a ball from an opening in an end of the bat body. When it is desired to perform a subsequent ball serving action, an adjustment member is pulled out from the bat body so as to engage the retaining projection with the hole, after which the adjustment member is returned to its normal position on the bat body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to a baseball bat for training ofchildren, more particular to a baseball bat, which is provided with aball-serving device therein.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] A baseball bat for training of children is made normally ofplastic. In practice, two children are needed to serve as a pitcher anda batter, respectively. When somebody cannot find others to play with,he must serve up a ball, and subsequently strike the same in situ usinga bat, thereby resulting in a monotonous and difficult act.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] An object of this invention is to provide a baseball bat which isdesigned for training of children and which is provided with aball-serving device that can be operated easily to serve up a ball so asto permit subsequent striking on the ball using the bat.

[0006] According to this invention, a baseball bat includes a tubularbat body with a resilient member, a ball-pushing unit which is disposedwithin the bat body, a gripping rod that retains the ball-pushing unitwithin the bat body, and an adjustment member that is coupled with thegripping rod. The resilient member is formed with a retaining projectionthat engages a hole in the ball-pushing unit. The resilient member canbe actuated to separate the projection from the hole so that theball-pushing unit is biased by a spring to move quickly in the bat body,thereby shooting a ball from an opening in an end of the bat body. Whenit is desired to perform a subsequent ball serving action, an adjustmentmember is pulled out from the bat body so as to engage the retainingprojection with the hole, after which the adjustment member is returnedto its normal position on the bat body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] These and other features and advantages of this invention willbecome apparent in the following detailed description of a preferredembodiment of this invention, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

[0008]FIG. 1 is a partly exploded perspective view of the preferredembodiment of a baseball bat according to this invention, which isprovided with a ball-serving device;

[0009]FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of the preferredembodiment;

[0010]FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the preferredembodiment;

[0011]FIG. 4 is another longitudinal sectional view of the preferredembodiment, illustrating engagement between a retaining projection of aresilient member and a hole in a retaining seat;

[0012]FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the preferredembodiment, illustrating how a ball is served from an opening in an endof a bat body; and

[0013]FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the preferredembodiment, illustrating a state after an adjustment member is pulledout from the bat body, thereby permitting subsequent ball serving actionof the ball-serving device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0014] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4, the preferred embodiment of abaseball bat according to this invention is shown to include a tubularbat body 10, and a ball-serving device, which includes a ball-pushingunit 20, a gripping rod 30, and a coiled compression spring 40.

[0015] The bat body 10 has a barrel portion 11, a grip portion 12extending axially from an end of the barrel portion 11, and aball-shooting opening 13 formed in the other end of the barrel portion11. The barrel portion 11 defines an accommodating space 111, and has anotch 14 formed in a wall thereof. The bat body 10 further includes anintegral resilient member 15, which is formed with a retainingprojection 151 that is biased to move in a radial direction of the batbody 10. A polyurethane sleeve 121 is disposed fixedly around the gripportion 12. An insert tube 16 is connected fixedly to the grip portion12, and extends into the sleeve portion 11. The grip portion 12 has anaxially extending central hole 17 formed therethrough, and a radialthreaded hole 120. A radial guide bolt 18 extends threadably through thethreaded hole 120 in the grip portion 12. The ball shooting opening 13is defined by an inward flange 131 that extends integrally, radially andinwardly from an end of the sleeve portion 11.

[0016] The ball-pushing unit 20 is disposed within the accommodatingspace 111 in the bat body 10, and includes a bowl-shaped ball-receivingelement 21 and a push rod unit 22, which consists of an outer tube 23and an inner rod 24 that define an annular space 25 (see FIGS. 3 and 4)therebetween. The ball-receiving element 21 defines a hemisphericalcavity 211 that is adapted to receive a baseball 100 (see FIG. 4)therein, and is formed with an integral annular flange 212. Because theball-receiving element 21 has a maximum diameter that is slightly largerthan the diameter of the ball-shooting opening 131 in the bat body 10,removal of the ball-receiving element 21 from the opening 131 isprevented. The inner rod 24 is formed with a guide slot 26 therethroughthat has an inner end (26A) and an outer end (26B), and a cylindricalrecess 241 that is formed in an end surface of the inner rod 24 and thatis communicated with the inner end (26A) of the guide slot 26. Thecylindrical recess 241 has a diameter smaller than the width of theguide slot 26 in the inner rod 24 to define a retaining shoulder 261(see FIG. 1) therebetween. The push rod unit 22 has an outer end 201(see FIG. 4) that is connected fixedly to the ball-receiving element 21,and an inner end 202 that is provided with a fixed retaining seat 27 onan outer surface of the outer tube 23. Each of the inner rod 24 and theouter tube 23 has an end that is connected fixedly to the ball-receivingelement 21. In this embodiment, the inner rod 24 is press fitted withinthe annular flange 212 of the ball-receiving element 21. The outer tube23 is press fitted within an annular groove in the flange 212. Theretaining seat 27 has a generally U-shaped cross-section, and includestwo parallel side walls (27A) that define a slide slot 271 therebetween,and a connecting wall (27B) that is formed integrally with the sidewalls (27A) at two opposite sides thereof and that has a hole 272 formedtherethrough. The resilient member 15 is disposed slidably within theslide slot 271. The retaining projection 151 engages the hole 272,thereby positioning the ball-pushing unit 20 within the bat body 10.

[0017] The gripping rod 30 is retained normally at a retracted position,and has a wide rod portion 31 disposed within the grip portion 12 of thebat body 10, and a narrow rod portion 32 disposed within the push rodunit 22 of the ball pushing unit 20. The wide and narrow rod portions31, 32 define a limiting shoulder 33 therebetween, on which the innerend 202 (see FIG. 4) of the ball-pushing unit 20 rests. The wide rodportion 31 is formed with a longitudinal slot 34 therethrough, whichextends along length thereof. The guide bolt 18 of the bat body 10extends slidably into the longitudinal slot 34, thereby guiding thegripping rod 30 to move axially within the bat body 10 between theretracted position and an extended position shown in FIG. 6. Anadjustment member 35 has an integral insert rod 351 that is press fittedwithin the central hole 17 in the grip portion 12, a hole 352 formedthrough the adjustment member 35, and a lock bolt 353 extending throughthe hole 352 to engage a threaded hole 311 in an end surface of the widerod portion 31 of the gripping rod 30, thereby retaining the grippingrod 30 at the retracted position. The narrow rod portion 32 of thegripping rod 30 has a plate-shaped portion 320 that engages the guideslot 26 in the inner rod 24 and that has a uniform width. Asillustrated, the guide slot 26 has an elongated rectangularcross-section with a long side and a short side that is slightly longerthan the width of the plate-shaped portion 320 of the narrow rod portion32 of the gripping rod 30. As such, the ball-pushing unit 20 is guidedto move axially within the bat body 10. The gripping rod 30 is made of aflexible material, and has a bifurcated end or gripping portion, whichincludes two lateral projections 36 that extend integrally therefromaway from each other and that are limited to move between the inner andouter ends (26A, 26B) of the guide slot 26 in the ball-pushing unit 20,thereby preventing removal of the lateral projections 36 from the innerrod 24.

[0018] The spring 40 is sleeved on the wide rod portion 31 of thegripping rod 30, and has a first end portion that is received within thecylindrical recess 241 in the inner rod 24, and a second end portionthat abuts against the guide bolt 18. The spring 40 is compressedbetween the ball-pushing unit 20 and the guide bolt 18.

[0019] In use, a ball 100 is placed in the cavity 211 of theball-receiving element 21 of the ball-pushing unit 20, as shown in FIG.4. When the resilient member 15 is pressed to disengage the retainingprojection 151 from the hole 272, the ball-pushing unit 20 is pushed bythe spring 40 to move quickly within the base body 10 to the positionshown in FIG. 5, where the lateral projections 36 contact the retainingshoulder 261 and where the ball 100 is shot from the bat body 10 throughthe opening 131.

[0020] When it is desired to perform a subsequent ball serving action ofthe ball-pushing unit 20, the adjustment member 35 is pulled out fromthe central hole 17 in the grip portion 12 of the bat body 10 in adirection shown by the arrowhead of solid lines in FIG. 6, so that thegripping rod 30 moves relative to the bat body 10 to the extendedposition shown in FIG. 6, where the ball-pushing unit 20 is pulled bythe lateral projections 36 to a position, in which the retainingprojection 151 engages the hole 271. Note that no movement is caused tothe spring 40 during movement of the gripping rod 30 within the bat body10. Then, the adjustment member 35 is pushed back in a direction shownby the arrowhead of phantom lines in FIG. 6 to its normal position,where it engages the central hole 17 in the grip portion 12 of the batbody 10 and where the gripping rod 30 is at the retracted position.

[0021] With this invention thus explained, it is apparent that numerousmodifications and variations can be made without departing from thescope and spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended that thisinvention be limited only as indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A baseball bat comprising: a tubular bat body having abarrel portion, a grip portion extending axially from an end of saidbarrel portion, and a ball-shooting opening formed in the other end ofsaid barrel portion, said barrel portion defining an accommodating spacetherein, said bat body further including an integral resilient memberwhich is formed with a retaining projection that is biased to move in aradial direction of said bat body; a ball-pushing unit disposed withinsaid accommodating space in said bat body and including a bowl-shapedball-receiving element that is adapted to receive a baseballtherewithin, and a push rod unit which has an outer end that isconnected fixedly to said ball-receiving element, and an inner end thatis provided with a fixed retaining seat, said push rod unit being formedwith a guide slot that extends along length thereof and that has anouter end and an inner end, said retaining seat having a slide slot,within which said resilient member of said tubular bat body is receivedslidably, and a hole, which is communicated with said slide slot andwhich engages said retaining projection of said resilient member,thereby positioning said ball-pushing unit within said bat body; meansfor guiding said ball-pushing unit to move axially within said bat body;a gripping rod retained at a retracted position relative to said batbody and having a wide rod portion disposed within said grip portion ofsaid bat body, a narrow rod portion disposed within said push rod unitof said ball-pushing unit, a limiting shoulder defined between said wideand narrow rod portions and abutting against said inner end of said pushrod unit, and a gripping portion formed on said narrow rod portion andretained slidably within said guide slot in said push rod unit so as tolimit movement of said gripping portion between said inner and outerends of said guide slot, thereby retaining said ball-pushing unit onsaid gripping rod; a coiled compression spring sleeved on said wide rodportion of said gripping rod and disposed between said ball-pushing unitand said bat body so as to bias said ball-pushing unit away from saidgripping rod when said resilient member is actuated to remove saidretaining projection of said resilient member from said hole in saidretaining seat, thereby pushing the baseball from said ball shootingopening in said bat body; and an adjustment member connected removablyto said gripping rod in such a manner that, after said retainingprojection of said resilient member has been removed from said hole insaid retaining seat, said adjustment element can move relative to saidbat body so that said resilient member slides within said slide slot insaid retaining seat of said push rod unit of said ball-pushing unit,thereby engaging said retaining projection of said resilient member withsaid hole in said retaining seat and consequently permitting subsequentball pushing action of said ball-pushing unit.
 2. The baseball bat asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said push rod unit includes an inner rodthat is formed with said guide slot therethrough, and an outer tube thatis disposed around said inner tube, each of said inner rod and saidouter tube having an end that is connected fixedly to saidball-receiving element, said narrow rod portion of said gripping rodhaving a plate-shaped portion that engages said guide slot in said innerrod and that has a uniform width, said guide slot in said inner rodhaving an elongated rectangular cross-section with a long side and ashort side that is slightly longer than the width of said plate-shapedportion of said narrow rod portion of said gripping rod, saidplate-shaped portion of said gripping rod and said guide slot in saidinner rod constituting said means for guiding said ball-pushing unit tomove axially within said bat body.
 3. The baseball bat as claimed inclaim 2, wherein said inner rod has an end surface which is formed witha cylindrical recess that is communicated with said guide slot in saidinner rod and that has a diameter smaller than width of said guide slotin said inner rod to define a retaining shoulder therebetween, saidgripping rod being made of a flexible material and having a bifurcatedend, which constitutes said gripping portion and which includes twolateral projections that extend integrally therefrom away from eachother and that are movable to abut against said retaining shoulder so asto prevent removal of said bifurcated end of said gripping rod from saidinner rod.
 4. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 2, wherein said batbody is formed with an insert tube that is connected fixedly to saidgrip portion of said bat body and that extends into said sleeve portionof said bat body, said insert tube being inserted between said inner rodand said outer tube of said push rod unit so as to permit slidingmovement of said insert tube therebetween, thereby further guiding saidball-pushing unit to move axially in said bat body.
 5. The baseball batas claimed in claim 1, wherein said wide rod portion of said grippingrod is formed with a longitudinal slot that extends along lengththereof, said bat body including a radial guide bolt that is fixedthereon and that extends slidably into said longitudinal slot in saidgripping rod, thereby guiding said gripping rod to move axially in saidbat body.
 6. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidcompression spring is disposed between said ball-pushing unit and saidguide bolt, thereby biasing said ball-pushing unit away from said guidebolt.
 7. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 6, wherein said push rodunit has an end surface which is formed with a cylindrical recess, saidcompression spring having a first end portion that is received fittinglywithin said cylindrical recess in said push rod unit, and a second endportion that abuts against said guide bolt.
 8. The baseball bat asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said grip portion of said bat body is formedwith an axially extending central hole therethrough, said wide rodportion of said gripping rod extending into said central hole in saidgrip portion and having an end surface that is formed with a threadedhole, said adjustment member having an integral insert rod that is pressfitted within said central hole in said grip portion, a hole formedthrough said adjustment member, and a lock bolt extending through saidhole in said adjustment member to engage said threaded hole in saidgripping rod, thereby retaining said gripping rod at said retractedposition, said adjustment member being capable of being pulled away fromsaid grip portion of said bat body so as to separate said insert rod ofsaid adjustment member from said central hole in said grip portion andso as to move said ball-pushing unit and said gripping rod relative tosaid bat body, thereby moving said gripping rod to an extended position,in which said retaining projection of said resilient member engages saidhole in said retaining seat of said ball-pushing unit.
 9. The baseballbat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said retaining seat has a generallyU-shaped cross-section, and includes two parallel side walls and aconnecting wall that is formed integrally with said side walls at twoopposite sides thereof, said slide slot in said retaining seat beingdefined between said side walls, said hole in said retaining seat beingformed through said connecting wall.
 10. The baseball bat as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said sleeve portion of said bat body is formed with aninward flange that extends radially and inwardly therefrom and thatdefines said ball-shooting opening, said bowl-shaped ball-receivingelement of said ball-pushing unit being formed with a hemisphericalcavity that is adapted to receive the baseball, said ball-shootingopening being sized so as to be adapted to prevent movement of the balltherethrough.